Melanoma skin cancer incidence statistics
Melanoma skin cancer incidence by gender and UK country
| Melanoma skin cancer accounts for 5% of all new cancer cases in the UK, with around 8,600 new cases in females and around 8,900 new cases in males every year (2017-2019). |
Melanoma skin cancer incidence by age
| Incidence rates for melanoma skin cancer are highest in people aged 85 to 89 in the UK, with around 5 in 100 (6%) of all new melanoma skin cancer cases diagnosed in this age group (2017-2019). |
Melanoma skin cancer incidence trends over time
| Melanoma skin cancer incidence rates have increased by around two-and-a-half times (147%) in the UK since the early 1990s and rates have increased by almost a third (31%) in the last decade (2017-2019). |
Melanoma skin cancer incidence projections
| Melanoma skin cancer incidence rates in the UK are projected to increase by 9% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, with around 26,500 new cases each year by 2038-2040. |
|
In females, the most common specific location for melanoma skin cancers in the UK is the lower limb, in males the most common specific location for melanoma skin cancers in the UK is the trunk (2016-2018).[1-4] Variation of incidence by anatomical site may reflect the physical size of each site, and differences in risk factor exposure by site, among other factors. Cases and percentages may not sum due to rounding |
See also
Find out more about the counting and coding of this data
References
- Data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (part of Public Health England), on request through the Office for Data Release, July 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk
- Data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, April 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications
- Data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales, March 2021. https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-incidence-in-wales-2002-2018/
- Data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, June 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/
About this data
Data is for UK, 2016-2018, ICD-10 C43. For some cases the specific location of the cancer is not recorded, this may be due to clinical or data recording factors.
Last reviewed: 10 March 2022
An estimated 110,300 people who had been diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer between 1991 and 2010 were alive in the UK at the end of 2010.[1]
See also
Melanoma cancer incidence statistics by sex and UK country
References
- Macmillan Cancer Support and National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Cancer Prevalence UK Data Tables. London: NCRAS; 2015.
About this data
Data is for: Great Britain (1991-2010) and Northern Ireland (1993-2010), ICD-10 C43
Last reviewed: 27 July 2017
Statistics by cancer type
View our latest cancer statistics including key stats, in-depth explanations and raw data on cancer incidence, mortality, survival, risk, and diagnosis and treatment.
Citation
You are welcome to reuse this Cancer Research UK content for your own work.
Credit us as authors by referencing Cancer Research UK as the primary source. Suggested styles are:
Web content: Cancer Research UK, full URL of the page, Accessed [month] [year].
Publications: Cancer Research UK ([year of publication]), Name of publication, Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when reused unaltered): Credit: Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when recreated with differences): Based on a graphic created by Cancer Research UK.
When Cancer Research UK material is used for commercial reasons, we encourage a donation to our life-saving research.
Send a cheque payable to Cancer Research UK to: Cancer Research UK, 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ or
Newsletter
Stay up to date by signing up to our cancer statistics and intelligence newsletter
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.